Thursday, February 18, 2016

Australia was once killing it when it came to depressive metal. This is not our first time with these guys as I reviewed there last album "As the Stars" , but in looking back in anger at some older depressive suicidal releases, this one is often thought of as the band at their peak. These guys have a very sonic tone that races off right out of the gate. While clean singing gets a lot of flack from the modern metal community , but it is the saving grace of the second song, as it helps offer a guide post to set it aside from the title track that opens this album. These guys are great at what they do and the drummer gets props for not relying on blast beats. The clean vocals are executed in a manner much like Agalloch. They keep things brisk and not unlike other Australian bands of this ilk are not afraid to let the drummer just run with it. By the fourth song I found myself getting a little lost and some of this has to do with the pacing and how they let this album runaway. This almost creates one massive wall of sound they songs are all slapped against. They are wise to start slowing things down on the"Inevitable End" to draw some clearer lines between the songs.

"November" finds them touching the shoe gaze heavens way before Deafheaven. The acoustic guitar strum leading into the big build really helps to put the song on its own two feet. The albums best song " Somehow " closes the album. The Agalloch like clean vocals lead into the song. They are somber where the chord structure is brighter. The screams paved the way for similar patterns that Deafheaven would later follow. This ends with a emotive sonic sweet spot that the band hits.I'll round this one up to a 9 since that is what their last album got and I think this one is comparable.